A 9-year-old girl in Alabama allegedly took her own life after suffering racist taunts and bullying in class, according to reports.
The family of McKenzie Adams says the young girl hanged herself on Dec. 3 in her home in Linden, which is located about 100 miles west of Montgomery, according to the Tuscaloosa News. The girl was found by her grandmother.
Her family told the newspaper she had been the target of bullying since the beginning of the school year at her elementary school and because of her friendship with a male classmate who was white.
She was in the fourth grade.
Eddwina Harris, McKenzie’s aunt, told the newspaper the group of students taunted McKenzie by telling her to commit suicide.
“She was being bullied the entire school year, with words such as ‘kill yourself,’ ‘you think you’re white because you ride with that white boy,’ ‘you ugly,’ ‘black bi***’ ‘just die,’” Harris told the newspaper.
Harris said she is speaking out after McKenzie’s death in hopes of helping others.
“… Now it’s time to help. There are so many voiceless kids,” she told the publication.